Constructed between 1850 and 1857 and designed by Thomas Hawksley the well known ‘three lakes’ of Anglezarke reservoir, Upper and Lower Rivington reservoirs together with Yarrow Reservoir were once the cutting edge of reservoir technology. Hawksley’s addition of filter beds to aid with water treatment was somewhat revolutionary and lasted for around 100 years until their replacement in latter half of the 20th Century.
This impressive chain of reservoirs spans the length of several small valleys that were dammed and flooded using seven structural embankments. The often overlooked High Bullough reservoir pre-dates the others and is notably smaller. High Bullough was originally constructed to supply water to Chorley.
Several hamlets and an inn were all abandoned and drown beneath the waters after construction of the reservoirs was completed, together with a large section of the River Yarrow and apparently some beautiful walking country of which local people were especially fond.
The local reservoir system is linked to Roddlesworth and to other reservoirs miles away in the Prescott area and are owned and maintened by the Liverpool water authority.
anglezarke.net found the name of the owner of this schematic so I copied the name from there. Check out the site, good research.
Lower Rivington Reservoir image by munki-boy
Rivington Reservoirs Schematic image by Robert William Rennison
Find out what really lies beneath the waters of the Rivington Reservoirs, probably not what you heard. Reconstructed in 3D.
The easy to visit Lower Rivington Reservoir has good access to the water from the Rivington side and below the castle but can suffer Blue-Green Algae.
Said to be the deepest, Yarrow Reservoir is often overlooked as one of the Rivington Reservoirs and to be fair it hasn’t easy access to the water but it does have interesting carvings.
